OUR REVIEW & RATING ★★☆☆☆

We’ve been told that there are many sides to a story and sadly this version of the untold story of Disney’s most iconic villain from the 1959 classic Sleeping Beauty just should have been left untold as Maleficent quotes just fail to live up to the original classic.

This new version Disney is giving us the backstory of Maleficent, the evil sorceress of the classic tale. We learn that young Maleficent was a beautiful, pure-hearted fairy living an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom, tasked with guarding the enchanted woods. But when Maleficent falls in love with a young farmer’s son and is then betrayed by him which threatens the harmony of the land, this turns her pure heart to stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces an epic battle with the invading king’s successor and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora.

There is no doubt that Angelina Jolie was made for this part, she is a captivating lead as she is beautiful, she is strong, and she executed Maleficent beautifully, but sadly in the end this does not save the movie from being an epic disappointment. The script failed to give her character any depth and instead created a one dimensional villain with unconvincing narrative choices and the rest of the characters given too little to do in this very lackluster story which takes itself far too seriously.

Verdict: A very flawed, bland and dark take on the classic fantasy fairy tale which not even Angelina Jolie’s performance can save in the end.

[first lines]Narrator:[voice over] Let us tell an old story a new and we will see how well you know it. Once upon a time there were two kingdoms that were the worst of neighbors. So vast was the discord between them that it was said only a great hero or a terrible villain might bring them together. In one kingdom lived folk like you and me with a vain and greedy king to rule over them. They were forever discontent and envious of the wealth and beauty of their neighbors. For in the other kingdom, the Moors lived every manner of strange and wonderful creature. And they needed neither king nor queen but trusted in one another.

Narrator:[voice over] In a great tree on a great cliff in the Moors lived one such spirit. You might take her for a girl. But she was not just any girl, she was a fairy.[we see young Maleficent lying on a tree branch happily playing with dolls using her powers, she hears a noise and sees a branch on the tree has snapped, goes over to it, wraps her hands around it to magically fix it]Young Maleficent: There you go.Narrator:[voice over] And her name was Maleficent. Maleficent spreads her large wings and takes flight across the land, greeting the other creatures she comes acrossYoung Maleficent: Good morning, Mr. Shantuwell. I love your cap.[Mr. Shantuwell removes his cap and bows his head to greet her, then Maleficent comes across the three creatures of which one of them goes to throw a rock at her] Young Maleficent: No! No! Don’t do it![the creature throws the rock but it misses hitting Maleficent]Young Maleficent: Ha, you missed me![she then flies past another creature]Young Maleficent: Good morning.Creature: Good morning.[coming across more creatures as she flies across the river]Young Maleficent: Love your work, girls.

[Maleficent comes across three pixies Knotgrass, Flittle and Thistletwit having a meeting]Young Maleficent: What’s all the fuss about?Knotgrass: The border guards…Flittle: Why’d you get to tell her? I want to tell her!Thistletwit: I want to tell her!Knotgrass: There are rules, Flittle. I tell this time, you tell next time. The border guards…Flittle: No, you told last time. So I should tell this time and Thistletwit next time.Young Maleficent: Tell me what?Knotgrass: Fine!Flittle: Ah, thank you. Maleficent, the border guards…Thistletwit: The border guards have found a human thief at the Pool of Jewels![the other two look at her]Thistletwit: I’m sorry.[Maleficent looking shocked quickly flies off to investigate knocking back the three pixies]Thistletwit: She’s always in a hurry with her big wings.Knotgrass: Humans, here. I hope this isn’t another war.

[Maleficent joins two large tree-like guards who are holding back the human thief, a young boy, Stefan, as he hides in a cave]Young Maleficent: I’m not afraid. Besides, I’ve never seen a human up close.[to Stefan]Young Maleficent: Come out!Young Stefan: No! They mean to kill me. And besides, they’re hideous to look at.Young Maleficent: That’s extremely rude![turning to one of the guards]Young Maleficent: Don’t listen to him, Balthazar. You’re classically handsome.[Balthazar bows his head in appreciation; to Stefan]Young Maleficent: It’s not right to steal, but we don’t kill people for it. Come out! Come out this instant![Stefan walks out from his hiding place]Young Maleficent: Are you fully grown?Young Stefan: No.[to the guards]Young Maleficent: I believe he’s just a boy.Young Stefan: And you’re just a girl, I think.

Young Maleficent: Who are you?Young Stefan: I’m called Stefan. Who are you?Young Maleficent: I’m Maleficent.[Balthazar says something in his own language to Maleficent]Young Maleficent: Yes, right.[to Stefan]Young Maleficent: You have to give it back.Young Stefan: Give what back?[not fooled, Maleficent sighs and holds out her hand, Stefan takes out the jewel from his small bag and tosses it to Maleficent who throws it back into the water, she then escorts Stefan out of the Moors]Young Stefan: If I knew you would throw it away, I would have kept it.Young Maleficent: I didn’t throw it away. I delivered it home, as I’m going to do for you.

[as they reach his kingdom]Young Stefan: Someday, you know, I’ll live there, in the castle.[he points to the castle in the distance]Young Maleficent: Where do you live now?Young Stefan: In a barn.Young Maleficent: So, your parents are farmers then?Young Stefan: My parents are dead.Young Maleficent: Mine too.[Stefan looks at Maleficent for a moment]Young Stefan: We’ll see each other again.[Stefan starts to walk off]

Young Maleficent: You really shouldn’t come back here, you know. It’s not safe.Young Stefan: And If I made that choice? if I came back, would you be here?Young Maleficent: Perhaps.[Stefan extends his hand to her and as she goes to shake it she gets a shock from his ring]Young Maleficent: Ow!Young Stefan: What’s wrong?Young Maleficent: Your ring! Iron burns fairies.Young Stefan: I’m sorry.[Stefan takes off his ring and throws it away]Young Stefan: I like your wings.[Maleficent smiles to herself as Stefan turns and walks off]

Narrator:[voice over] Maleficent thought of how Stefan cast away his ring. He, who had so little in the world so that their hands might touch again. And her heart was moved. Thus did the young thief who had hoped to steal a jewel steal something far more precious.[Stefan stands by the borders of the Moors and calls out to Maleficent]Young Stefan: Maleficent! Maleficent![suddenly Maleficent flies in and lands beside him]Young Maleficent: After all these weeks, look who came back.Young Stefan: I thought it worth the risk. So, what do you do for fun?[we see Maleficent and Stefan playing in the Moors, where he tries to hold on to her foot as she flies and then later she lets him touch her wing]

Narrator:[voice over] Stefan and Maleficent became the most unlikely of friends. And for a time, it seemed as if, in them at least, the old hatred between man and fairies had been forgotten. As it will, friendship slowly turned into something else.[we see Stefan giving Maleficent a necklace]Narrator:[voice over] And on her 16th birthday, Stefan gave Maleficent a gift. He told her it was true love’s kiss.[now in their teenage years, we see Stefan kissing Maleficent]Narrator:[voice over] But it was not to be.

Narrator:[voice over] As the years passed Stefan’s ambition called him away from Maleficent and towards the temptations of the human kingdom. While Maleficent, the strongest of the fairies rose to become the protector of the Moors.[we see an adult Maleficent flying across the Moors looking beautiful and powerful]Narrator:[voice over] Maleficent often wandered alone and sometimes wondered where Stefan might be. For she had never understood the greed and envy of men. But she was to learn. For the human king had heard of a growing power in the Moors, and he sought to strike it down.[as Maleficent sits in the Moors, in the distance she spots King Henry and his army charging toward the Moors and she quickly flies off]General: Guards, hold! Guards, hold!

[Henry and his army stop by the borders of the Moors, he turns to his army]King Henry: There they are! The mysterious Moors where no one dares to venture for fear of the magical creatures that lurk within! Well, I say: Crush them![the soldiers cheer and just then Maleficent flies in to confront them]Maleficent: Go no further!King Henry: A king does not take orders from a winged elf.[his soldiers laughs]Maleficent: You are no king to me![Henry stares at Maleficent for a moment then addresses]King Henry: Bring me her head.

[more creatures join Maleficent]General: Charge![Maleficent leads her army of the forest guardians against Henry’s army, she swoops down and takes down the soldiers then comes across Henry]Maleficent: You![she knocks down Henry off his horse]Soldier: To the king![as the soldier charge towards Maleficent, with few flaps of her wings, she throws them off their feet, she goes over to Henry who is lying on the ground]Maleficent: You will not have the Moors! Not now, nor ever! You…[suddenly Henry pushes her away, and as his armor is made of iron, it burns her, she then watches as Henry’s army retreats back to their kingdom]

[from his bed, Henry speaks to his men, including Stefan]King Henry: When I ascended to the throne I promised the people one day we would take the Moors and its treasures. Each of you swore allegiance to me and to that cause…[Henry starts coughing, Stefan goes over to him and places a pillow behind his head]Stefan: Your Majesty.King Henry: Defeated in battle. Is this to be my legacy? I see you’re waiting for me to die. It won’t be long, but what then? I will choose a successor to take the throne, to care for my daughter. Who among you is worthy? Kill the winged creature! Avenge me! And upon my death you will take the crown.[later that night Stefan goes into the Moors to seek out Maleficent]Stefan: Maleficent! Maleficent![as she does not appear, Stefan turns to leave when suddenly Maleficent flies in]Maleficent: So, how is life with the humans?Stefan: Maleficent, I’ve come to warn you. They mean to kill you. King Henry will stop at nothing. Please, you have to trust me.

[Maleficent and Stefan sit closely to each other by the river]Narrator:[voice over] They spoke of many things and the years faded away. And she forgave Stefan, his folly and his ambition. And all was as it had been long ago.[Stefan offers Maleficent some wine]Stefan: Are you thirsty?[Maleficent takes flask and starts drinking from it and soon she passes out as he’s drugged the wine]Stefan: Maleficent?[Stefan strokes her forehead then pulls out a knife to kill her, but he cannot bring himself to do it, he looks at her wings then takes out iron chain in order to use it to take her wings]

[the next morning Maleficent wakes, feels the pain on her back, and then starts wailing when she realizes her wings were stolen; Stefan then takes the wings to Henry]King Henry: What is this?Stefan: I have avenged you, sire.King Henry: She is vanquished? Oh, you have done well, my son. You have done what others feared to do. You will be rewarded.Stefan: I shall do my best to be a worthy successor, Your Majesty.

[back in the Moors Maleficent picks up a stick, transforms it into a scepter and then walks through the Moors until she finds the ruins where she sits to think, at the same time a raven appears but she sends it away, the next day Maleficent sees a man capture the raven with a net]Farmer: I’ve got you! You wicked bird![Maleficent watches as the man is about to hurt the raven]Maleficent: Into a man.[she uses her magic to turn the raven into a man]Farmer: It’s a…it’s a demon![the man turns and runs off in fear, Maleficent then approaches the man-raven]Diaval: What have you done to my beautiful self?Maleficent: Would you rather I let them beat you to death?Diaval: I’m not certain.Maleficent: Stop complaining. I saved your life.Diaval: Forgive me.Maleficent: What do I call you?Diaval: Diaval. And in return for saving my life, I am your servant. Whatever you need.Maleficent: Wings. I need you to be my wings.[as they walk off Diaval turns back into a raven and flies off to spy for Maleficent]

[Diaval arrives at the castle in his raven form to watch as Stefan is being crowned king]King Henry’s Captain: I present to you the first of his line, His Royal Highness King Stefan.[Diaval flies off to meet with Maleficent in the ruins and tell her the news]Maleficent: He did this to me so he would be king.[Maleficent screams and lets out a powerful blast of green light into the sky, which Stefan notices from his tower]Diaval: Now what, Mistress?[Maleficent turns and starts walking in anger through the Moors where the sky turns dark]Creature: Her wings![she makes a throne using her magic, she sits at her throne with Diaval by her side and with unspoken words declares herself queen of the Moors, forming a dark oppressive kingdom]

[some time later, servants in the kingdom chatter about the birth of a baby girl]Servant: It’s a girl!Servants: It’s a girl! It’s a girl![Diaval who’s been spying flies off to the Moors to let Maleficent know of the news]Maleficent: Well?Diaval: Well, I saw nothing. But there’s been a, um…Maleficent: What?Diaval: Child. King Stefan and the Queen have had a child.Maleficent: Oh.Diaval: There will be a christening. They say it’s to be a grand celebration.Maleficent: A grand celebration for a baby. How wonderful.

[the whole kingdom turns out for the celebration of the christening for Princess Aurora]Narrator:[voice over] All manner of folk came to the christening, even a trio of fairies who sought to foster peace and goodwill.Flittle: Oh, look, there’s the baby!Thistletwit: I love babies!Knotgrass: Can you just concentrate, please?Flittle: Oh!Knotgrass: I’m not telling you again.[the three fairies fly over to Stefan and his queen, Leah]Knotgrass: Greetings, Your Majesty. I am Knotgrass of the Moorland Fair Folk.Flittle: I’m Flittle, Your Kingship.Thistletwit: And I’m Thistletwit, Your Royalnesses.[to Stefan]Queen Leah: They bring gifts for our daughter.Flittle: These are not just any old gifts, for, you see, we’re magic!Knotgrass: And very good with children.[Stephan looks at Leah and reluctantly agrees]Stefan: Very well.

[the Knotgrass flies over to baby Princess Aurora who’s lying in her crib]Knotgrass: Sweet Aurora, I wish for you the gift of beauty.[Flittle comes over next]Flittle: My wish is that you’ll never be blue, only happy, all the days of your life.[finally Thistletwit comes over]Thistletwit: Sweet baby, my wish for you is that you find…[suddenly a great wind blows through the hall, we see Maleficent’s shadow walking towards Stefan and Leah]Flittle: Maleficent!Knotgrass: Maleficent![Maleficent, donning her trademark crown and black robes, stand before Stefan and Leah grinning sinisterly]Maleficent: Well, well. What a glittering assemblage, King Stefan. [she looks at the guests]Maleficent: Royalty, nobility, the gentry, and…[she laughs sinisterly again and looks at the fairies]Maleficent: How quaint. Even the rabble.

Maleficent: I must say I really felt quite distressed at not receiving an invitation.Stefan: You’re not welcome here.Maleficent: Oh.[she does a mock offended look and then laughs]Maleficent: Oh, dear. What an awkward situation.Queen Leah: You’re not offended?Maleficent: Why, no. And to show I bear no ill will, I too, shall bestow a gift on the child.[Stefan rises in anger]Stefan: No! We don’t want your gift![Maleficent approaches Aurora’s crib]Knotgrass: Stay away from the princess!Thistletwit: Yes, stay away![Maleficent uses her magic to toss aside the three fairies and they land inside a chest]

[Maleficent looks down at baby Aurora for a moment]Maleficent: Hmm. Mmm. Listen well, all of you. The princess shall indeed grow in grace and beauty, beloved by all who meet her.Queen Leah: That’s a lovely gift.[Maleficent looks at Stefan]Stefan: Don’t do this.[Maleficent looks behind her and notices the spindle on a spinning wheel]Maleficent: But before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into a sleep like death! A sleep from which she will never awaken!Stefan: Maleficent, please don’t do this, I’m begging you.Maleficent: I like you begging. Do it again.[Stefan hesitates a moment before kneeling in front of Maleficent]Stefan: I beg you.Maleficent: Alright. The princess can be woken from her death sleep, but only by…true love’s kiss. This curse will last till the end of time! No power on Earth can change it![with her blast of green light surrounding her she leaves, laugh sinisterly]

Narrator:[voice over] King Stefan ordered his men to seize every spinning wheel in the kingdom. The wheels were broken and burned, that they might never be used, and thrown into the deepest dungeon in the castle. Secretly, he entrusted the safety of the child to the magic of the pixies, who would take her to a remote hideaway for sixteen years and a day.[we see Stefan handing baby Aurora to the fairies and they take her away to the woods]Narrator:[voice over] Stefan shut himself behind the walls of his castle while his soldiers rode far and wide to hunt Maleficent down. But she made walls of her own, that the Moors might never again suffer the touch of any human.[Maleficent uses her magic to grow massive thorned trees surrounding the Moors]Narrator:[voice over] And she reveled in the sorrow that her curse had brought.

Narrator:[voice over] The fairies began their charge to raise Aurora in a snug little cottage in the woods.[the fairies pull up in their carriage outside a cottage in the woods]Knotgrass: Oh, no! Is this it?Flittle: Looks dreadful.Knotgrass: Come on.[all three carry baby Aurora in her basket as they fly over to the cottage]Thistletwit: Oh, we need a smaller…[they nearly drop Aurora as she’s too heavy for them]Thistletwit: Ooh! Baby.Flittle: Or bigger bodies.Knotgrass: No, what we need is a proper disguise.Flittle: What do you mean?[they set Aurora down in her basket]Knotgrass: Well, we have to blend in, don’t we? We have to be big enough to look after this baby. So, gather around, ladies. Get ready. One, two, three, grow![all three spin and suddenly turn into human-like forms]

[after turning into their human-like form]Knotgrass: Oh, that’s worked quite well. That’s very nice. Now, there will be no questions asked. We are no longer fairies. We are three peasant women raising our orphan child in the woods.Thistletwit: Yes.Knotgrass: So, uh…no more flying.Thistletwit: No flying?Knotgrass: No, no, and…and no magic.Thistletwit: No magic?[in their excitement they leave baby Aurora and walk over the cottage]Knotgrass: Yes, you heard.

[Aurora starts crying]Flittle: It’s in the middle of nowhere.Thistletwit: At least no one will find us here.[the three fairies enter the house forgetting Aurora, then Diaval appears in his bird form and lands on Aurora’s basket for a moment when suddenly Thistletwit opens the cottage door and rushes towards Aurora]Thistletwit: There you are. Why are you always hiding?[she picks up Aurora in her basket]Thistletwit: Come on. There you go.

[Diaval takes Maleficent to the fairies cottage and creeps to an open window and looks inside where the baby Aurora is in her basket]Maleficent: Hmm. It’s so ugly, you could almost feel sorry for it.[baby Aurora smiles adoringly at Maleficent, she then pulls a frightening face at Aurora but Aurora just continues to smile at her]Maleficent: I hate you. Beasty.[Maleficent hears the fairies inside the cottage, turns and walks away]

Narrator:[voice over] The fairies were perhaps unequal to their task.[baby Aurora cries as the three fairies try to work outside their cottage]Flittle: Why is she crying?Thistletwit: I think she might be hungry.Knotgrass: Then feed her!Flittle: Oh.[as Flittle goes to get her some food we see Diaval spying on them in his bird form]Thistletwit: Hungry baby.[Flittle places some carrots across baby Aurora’s basket]Flittle: There you are. There you go.[Diaval shakes his head, and as the baby continues to cry Maleficent covers her ears in frustration]Maleficent: It’s going to starve with those three looking after it.

[while the baby cries at night the fairies sleep with butterflies flying around their heads and faces]Thistletwit: It tickles.[Thistletwit laughs in her sleep, then Diaval flies in through the window bringing her a flower with water for her to drink and he starts rocking her crib; the next morning the fairies are sat at the table playing a game]Knotgrass: What?Flittle: You’re cheating.Thistletwit: I saw that!Flittle: We’re starting again.Knotgrass: Suit yourself.Flittle: Greedy, bloated goat![Thistletwit and Flittle laugh]Thistletwit: Bloated goat.

[as Knotgrass goes to start their game again water starts dripping from the ceiling onto Knotgrass]Knotgrass: Stop doing that.Flittle: I’m not doing anything.[looking at Thistletwit]Knotgrass: Well, someone is.Thistletwit: It’s not me.Knotgrass: You two are having a go at me, and I will not tolerate…[water drips on her head again and Knotgrass rises in anger]Knotgrass: Stop it![Flittle and Thistletwit look at her for a moment then Knotgrass sits back down and suddenly it starts pouring down with rain on her, and then inside the entire cottage]Flittle: Why…[to Flittle]Knotgrass: No! Oh! This is all your fault![outside the cottage we see Maleficent is the one using her magic to play a trick on the three fairies, as she smiles to herself she sees Diaval, in his human form now, watching her disapprovingly]Maleficent: Oh, come on. That’s funny.

Narrator:[voice over] As the days went on, Stefan darkened, further consumed by paranoia and vengeance.[Stefan orders his men to storm the Moors and launch fireballs at the thorned trees]Stefan’s General: Burn it all down!Soldier in Wood: Yes, sir! Stefan’s General: Flame! Release![the fireballs are launched into the thorned trees which begin to burn and the soldiers all cheer, inside the Moors Maleficent uses her magic to only makes them grow taller and the soldiers run off in fear; back at the palace]Stefan: You failed me.Captain: The wall cannot be burned. It is indestructible.[Stefan walks over to his captain and suddenly strikes him in the face]Stefan: Nothing is indestructible! Not the wall! Not Maleficent! Not even her curse![he takes out his knife and stabs the table with it in anger, then picks up his knife to look at it realizing that iron burns Maleficent]Stefan: Bring me the iron workers.

[Maleficent watches the three fairies enjoying a picnic in the woods and decides to play a trick on them and uses her magic to pull Flittle’s hair]Flittle: Ow![thinking it’s Thistletwit that puller her hair she pulls Thistletwit hair in return]Thistletwit: Ow![Thistletwit’s then pulls Flittle’s hair]Flittle: Ow![Maleficent then uses her magic to throw Knotgrass’s hat off her head, she looks at Thistletwit]Knotgrass: You![Knotgrass and Flittle start hitting Thistletwit, Maleficent watches them in amusement and then notices Aurora, now 5 years old, rushing off towards the edge of cliff chasing a butterfly]Maleficent: Oh, look. The little beast is about to fall off the cliff.[Maleficent watches coldly as Aurora runs after the butterfly and as she goes over the edge of the cliff Maleficent uses her magic to have some branches catch her, Maleficent looks at Diaval, who’s in his bird form]Maleficent: What?[Diaval croaks approvingly at her]

[one day young Aurora runs into the woods and finds Maleficent]Aurora (5 yrs.): Hello.Maleficent: Go away.[Aurora smiles at Maleficent and takes a step towards her]Maleficent: Go. Go away.[Aurora puts her around Maleficent and holds onto her]Maleficent: I don’t like children.Aurora (5 yrs.): Up, up.[reluctantly Maleficent picks Aurora up in her arms, Aurora then touches Maleficent’s horns before Maleficent sets her down again]Maleficent: Mmm. Go along. Go, go, go.[Aurora turns and walks away into the woods]

Narrator:[voice over] As Maleficent had said, Aurora did grow in grace and beauty.[we see now an 8 year old Aurora playing with Diaval in his bird form]Aurora (8 yrs.): Pretty bird.[she starts stroking Diaval]Narrator:[voice over] Far away from the lofty palace that she remembered not. And as the seasons changed and the flowers grew, so did she.[we see Aurora, now nearly 16 years old, walking in the woods at night when she comes across a baby deer]Aurora: Hello.[the deer approaches her as she offers him food from her hand]Aurora: That’s it. There you go.[Maleficent watches her form a the distance]

Narrator:[voice over] She wondered at the world about her, and at what lay beyond the fearsome wall of thorns.[as Aurora comes across the wall of thorns by the edge of the Moors Maleficent and Diaval, in his human form, watch her from the distance]Maleficent: Hm. Curious little beasty.Narrator:[voice over] But she was not the only one who wished to get through.

[we see Stefan’s soldier’s trying to take down the wall of thorns when they see Aurora standing by the wall]Soldier in Wood #1: Shh. Look. Is that her? Is that Maleficent?Soldier in Wood #2: I don’t know.[as they make their way slowly towards Aurora, Maleficent turns to Diaval]Maleficent: Bring them to me.[Diaval nods his head and Maleficent turns him into a wolf, the soldiers then notice Aurora turn around]Soldier in Wood #1: No, it’s just a silly peasant girl.[Maleficent then puts Aurora to sleep and floats her body away from the wall of thorns, then as Diaval scares the soldiers in his wolf form they notice Maleficent]Soldier: It’s her! It’s her![Maleficent then uses her magic to raise the soldiers off the ground, swing them from side to side, shake off their weapons and then toss them aside to hit the trees and get them knocked out falling to the ground, she then notices one of their helmets]Maleficent: Hmm.[as she goes to touch it she feels the burn as the helmet is made of iron]

[Maleficent turns Diaval from his wolf form into his human form again]Diaval: How could you do that to me?Maleficent: You said anything I need.Diaval: Yeah, but not a dog.Maleficent: It was a wolf, not a dog.Diaval: It’s the same thing! They’re dirty, vicious, and they hunt birds.Maleficent: Fine. Next time I’ll turn you into a mealy worm.Diaval: Well, I’ll be a mealy worm, gladly. Anything but a filthy, stinking…[Maleficent suddenly turns Diaval into his bird form, she then looks at Aurora’s floating sleeping body]Maleficent: I wonder.[Maleficent takes Aurora’s sleeping body deeper into the Moors]

[Maleficent hides behind a tree and awakens Aurora, she watches as Aurora looks with amazement and wonder at the creatures that surround her until they feel Maleficent’s presence and fly off in fear, Aurora turns towards the trees]Aurora: I know you’re there. Don’t be afraid.[Maleficent chuckles]Maleficent: I am not afraid.Aurora: Then come out.Maleficent: Then you’ll be afraid.Aurora: No, I won’t.Maleficent: Hm.

[Maleficent steps out from her hiding place and faces Aurora]Aurora: I know who you are.Maleficent: Do you?Aurora: You’re my Fairy Godmother.[Aurora smiles]Maleficent: What?Aurora: Fairy Godmother. You’ve been watching over me my whole life. I’ve always known you were close by.Maleficent: How?[Maleficent starts walking towards Aurora]Aurora: Your shadow, it’s been following me ever since I was small. Wherever I went, your shadow was always with me.

[to Diaval as he flies in to join Maleficent]Aurora: I remember you. Pretty bird.[Aurora laughs]Maleficent: This is Diaval.[Diaval bows his head and Maleficent turns him into his human form]Diaval: Hello, Aurora.[Aurora bows her head in acknowledgment]Diaval: I have known you since you were a little one.[he kisses her hand, Aurora smiles with happiness]Aurora: It’s everything I imagined it would be. Oh, it’s just so beautiful! I’ve always wanted to come…[just then Maleficent uses her magic to put Aurora to sleep, takes her through the Moors again and back to the cottage and places her in her own bed]Maleficent: Good night, beasty.

[Stefan sits in his chamber staring at Maleficent’s wings which are kept in a glass cabinet]Stefan: You mock me. I know what you’re doing. I know exactly what you’re doing.[one of his servants opens the door and stands by the doorway]Servant in Wing Room: Sire? Your presence has been requested by the Queen.Stefan: Leave me.Servant in Wing Room: Sire, she is not well. The nurses are fearful that she won’t make it through the night.Stefan: Shh. Can you not see we’re having a conversation?[the servant looks across the room, then shuts the door to the chamber, Stefan rises and walks over the glass cabinet]Stefan: When the curse fails, Maleficent will come for me. And on that day, I will be ready.

[Maleficent sits with Aurora by the lake in the Moors as she watches the creatures fly around in awe]Aurora: They’re so beautiful.[Maleficent and Diaval watch Aurora as she starts having a mud fight with some of the creatures, when one of them accidentally hits Maleficent in the face with some mud, Diaval starts laughing, Maleficent uses her magic to cover his face in mud making everyone laugh and she smiles; later Maleficent puts Aurora to sleep in her bed at the cottage and watches her]Maleficent: I revoke the curse. Let it be no more. I revoke the curse. Let it be no more.[she starts using her magic to take away the curse]Maleficent: I revoke my curse! Let it be no more! I revoke my curse! Let it be no more! Let it be no more![as Maleficent tries her best in the end she fails to revoke the curse and hears a voice whispering]Voice: This curse will last till the end of time. No power on Earth can change it.

[another night, Maleficent is in the Moors again walking with Aurora]Aurora: Do all the Fair People have wings?Maleficent: Most do.Aurora: Then why don’t you? All the other fairies fly.Maleficent: I had wings once, they were stolen from me. That’s all I wish to say about it.Aurora: What color were they? Were they big?Maleficent: So big they dragged behind me when I walked. And they were strong. They could carry me above the clouds and into the headwinds. And they never faltered, not even once. I could trust them.[Aurora touches her hand in comfort but Maleficent turns and starts walks off]

[Stefan wakes up from having a bad dreaming about when he cut Maleficent’s wings]Stefan: She’s coming. She’s coming.[as one of his servants sleeps Stefan throws water in his face which jolts him awake]Stefan: Where are your workers?Overseer: Uh…in their beds, Majesty.Stefan: Get them back to work without delay.Overseer: They’re exhausted, sire. But I’ll have them back to work at first light.Stefan: I need them back to work now.Overseer: It’s the wee hours.Stefan: Aye. Aye.[Stefan places his hand on the servants shoulder making him look at Stefan in surprise]Stefan: It is the wee hours. So wake them up.Overseer: Sire?[Stefan suddenly grabs holds of the servant and shakes him]Stefan: So wake them up, and get them back to work now! We’re running out of time! Go, now![the servant rushes off in fear]

[back in the Moors one morning, Maleficent sits and watches as Aurora lovingly strokes a creature]Maleficent: Aurora? Come here.[Aurora goes over to Maleficent]Maleficent: Sit.[she sits next to Maleficent]Maleficent: There’s something I need to tell you.Aurora: What is it?Maleficent: There is an evil in this world, and I cannot keep you from it.Aurora: I’m almost sixteen, Godmother. I can take care of myself.Maleficent: I understand. But that’s not what I have to tell you…Aurora: I have a plan. When I’m older, I’m going to live here in the Moors with you. Then we can look after each other.Maleficent: You don’t have to wait until you’re older, you could live here now.[Aurora smiles with joy]Aurora: Then I will. I’ll sleep in a tree and eat berries and black nuts and all the Fair People will be my friends. I’ll be happy here for the rest of my life. I’m going to tell my aunties tomorrow.[she laughs and looks at Maleficent]Maleficent: Until tomorrow.Aurora: Oh, I’m so excited![Aurora laughs as she leaves to makes her way back to the cottage]

[as Aurora is walking in the woods practicing what she’s going to say to the three fairies, Prince Phillip who’s riding in the woods, notices her]Aurora: Aunties, I’m almost sixteen and I need a life of my own. No. [she stops and thinks for a moment before continuing to practice]Aurora: I love you very much, but it’s time to say goodbye. You’ve been very good to me, except the time you accidentally fed me spiders.[suddenly Phillip steps in front of her to interrupt her making Aurora gasp in shock]Prince Phillip: Hello.[Aurora, looking shy and afraid, doesn’t reply]

Prince Phillip: I’m sorry to bother you, but I’m on my way to King Stefan’s castle and I’ve become hopelessly lost. Can you help me?[as he takes a step towards Aurora, she takes a step back in fear and stumbles down]Aurora: Oh!Prince Phillip: Oh, I’m sorry. That was my fault, I rushed in too…[he takes her hand to help her stand, he suddenly becomes silent as he becomes mesmerized by her beauty, Aurora takes back her hand]Prince Phillip: Forgive me.[Aurora points to the direction]Aurora: It’s that way. The castle.[Phillip just keeps on staring at her]

[as Phillip walks back towards his horse Aurora follow him]Aurora: Will you be back this way?[Phillip turns to look at her and smiles]Prince Phillip: Nothing could stop me.Aurora: Then I’ll see you soon.Prince Phillip: Very soon.[Phillips gets on his horse]Aurora: Goodbye, Philip.Prince Phillip: Goodbye, for now.[Aurora smiles to herself as she watches Phillip ride away]

[Maleficent and Diaval, in his bird form, watch Aurora’s encounter with Phillip, Diaval flaps his wings in Maleficent’s face]Maleficent: Stop doing that.[Maleficent uses her magic to turn Diaval into his human form]Diaval: Well? That boy’s the answer.[Maleficent laughs]Maleficent: No, Diaval.Diaval: Yes! True love’s kiss, remember? It can break the spell.Maleficent: True love’s kiss? Have you not worked it out yet? I cursed her that way because there is no such thing.Diaval: Well, that might be how you feel, but what about Aurora? That boy could be her only chance. It’s her fate, anyway.[Maleficent looks at him then raises her hand to use her magic to turn him into a creature]Diaval: Go ahead, turn me into whatever you want. A bird, a worm. I don’t care anymore.[he turns and walks away]

[at the cottage the three fairies are trying to make Aurora a cake for her birthday]Thistletwit: I’m so happy we’re leaving tomorrow.Knotgrass: We are not leaving tomorrow.Thistletwit: Tomorrow is Aurora’s sixteenth birthday.Knotgrass: And Stefan told us to take her back the day after her birthday.Thistletwit: No, he said on her birthday.Knotgrass: No, the day after her birthday.Thistletwit: On.Knotgrass: After.[Knotgrass throws some flower at Thistletwit]Thistletwit: On![Thistletwit throws flour back at Knotgrass]Knotgrass: After!

[as they start throwing flour at each other]Thistletwit: On!Knotgrass: After!Thistletwit: On!Knotgrass: After!Thistletwit: On, on, on!Knotgrass: After, after, after![Flittle comes in between them to stop them]Flittle: Oh, stop it![Knotgrass throws some flour at Flittle and suddenly Flittle slaps Knotgrass in the face]Knotgrass: Oh![then Flittle and Thistletwit laugh at Knotgrass when they notice her face is covered in blue flour where Flittle’s hand had hit her]Knotgrass: What?[Knotgrass looks in the mirror and notices the blue flour on her face]Knotgrass: How could you?

[in the midst of the three fairies fighting Aurora enters the cottage]Aurora: I need to talk to you about something.Flittle: Oh, yes, sweetie, what is it?[Aurora walks over to them and notices the blue stain on Knotgrass’ face which suddenly disappears]Aurora: I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but I’ll be sixteen tomorrow.Knotgrass: Oh. Flittle: Oh, yes.[the three fairies laugh and Knotgrass bring out the cake they’ve baked, which looks terrible]

Aurora: I’m leaving home.[Knotgrass suddenly drops the cake from shock]Knotgrass: See here, young lady. I did not spend sixteen years in this miserable hovel with these two imbeciles…[the other two look at her in outraged shock]Knotgrass: Shush! So that you could ruin it on the last day. We are taking you back to your father with…[Knotgrass suddenly realizes she’s let the secret out]Aurora: My father? You told me my parents were dead.Flittle: I think you better come and sit down.

[after the fairies have told Aurora about her father, she steps out of the cottage looking distressed and runs into the Moors calling to Maleficent]Aurora: Fairy Godmother![Maleficent walks towards Aurora]Maleficent: I’m here.Aurora: When were you going to tell me that I’m cursed? Is it true?Maleficent: It is.[Aurora starts crying]Aurora: My aunts said it was an evil fairy. I…I can’t remember her name. They said it was…Maleficent.[Aurora looks at Maleficent with sadness]Aurora: Is that you? Are you Maleficent?[Maleficent, looking at Aurora with tears in her eyes, takes a step closer to her]Aurora: No! Don’t touch me. You’re the evil that’s in the world. It’s you![Aurora turns and runs off, Maleficent shouts to Diaval]Maleficent: Find the boy![Diaval flies off to find Phillip]

[Aurora rides to the kingdom, goes to the palace and is taken by a guard to see Stefan who is holding a meeting with his men]Stefan: I need every available man on the east wing now. There should be no guards at the gate. I want her to walk right in…Guard: Sorry to disturb, Your Majesty. We found this urchin at the gate. She claims to be the princess.[Stefan takes a step closer to look at Aurora]Aurora: Father. It’s me, Aurora![she rushes excitedly towards Stefan and hugs him]Stefan: You look just like your mother. They brought you back a day too soon. I told those three idiots![to the guard]Stefan: Lock her up in her room.[to Aurora]Stefan: Go.[the guard grabs Aurora’s arm and Stefan turns to his men]Stefan: Prepare the men. Maleficent’s coming.

[the three fairies, now back in their pixie form fly across the woods in search of Aurora]Flittle: It’s so good to be small again! Look at my feet! I love my tiny little feet!Knotgrass: Pay attention! We have to find Aurora, or the king will have our heads![on the day of her birthday, Aurora grows restless in her room and feels a discomfort on her finger, she goes to open the door but finds it locked, then she hears a voice calling to her]Voice: Aurora.[Aurora finds a hidden door and knocks on it and it’s opened by a handmaiden, Aurora rushes inside]Handmaiden: Wait! [Aurora runs off]Handmaiden: Princess?

[in the woods Maleficent finds Phillip on his horse looking for Aurora]Prince Phillip: I’m looking for a girl.Maleficent: Of course you are.[Maleficent uses her magic to put Phillip to sleep]Maleficent: I need a horse.[she looks up at Diaval, in his bird form, after Maleficent turns Diaval into a horse we see her riding him with Phillip asleep, being ridden on his horse behind her]

[back at the palace Aurora’s finger is feeling more uncomfortable as she continues to hear the voice]Voice: …into a sleep like death. Aurora.[back with Maleficent who is riding Diaval as fast as she can to get to the palace]Maleficent: Come on, Diaval![back at the palace Aurora, still hearing the voice, finds a door to the dungeon]Voice: Aurora.[Aurora opens the door and enters to find where all the destroyed spinning wheels are and she notices the cursed spinning wheel forming, she starts walking over to it]

[meanwhile Maleficent frantically races to the castle]Maleficent: Faster, Diaval, faster![back the palace, Aurora has reached the spinning wheel]Voice: She will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into a sleep like death. No power on Earth… A sleep like death.[Aurora, mesmerized by the spindle, touches it, pricks her finger, her eyes shut and she collapses to the floor, Maleficent then senses the moment it happens]Maleficent: It’s done.[the handmaiden then finds Aurora’s body and begins weeping]

[Maleficent and Diaval, in his human form walk towards the palace with the still unconscious Phillip]Diaval: They pulled the guards, he’s waiting for you in there. If we go inside those walls, we’ll never come out alive.Maleficent: Then don’t come, it’s not your fight.[Maleficent starts walking towards the palace with Phillips unconscious body floating behind her]Diaval: Huh. Well thank you very much. “I need you, Diaval. I can’t do this without you, Diaval.”[Diaval starts following Maleficent]Maleficent: I can hear you.

[inside the palace, Stefan is by Aurora’s bed as she lies unconscious in her bed, the three fairies approach them]Stefan: Look at her. Look at what you’ve done.Knotgrass: She’s only sleeping.Stefan: She’s only sleeping, you say? She’s only sleeping. She’s only sleeping forever!Thistletwit: What about the kiss?Knotgrass: Yes! True love’s kiss!Stefan: True love does not exist.Flittle: But it’s her only chance, Your Majesty.[Stefan hits Flittle aside in anger and walks out of the room]

[Maleficent and Diaval enter the palace and comes Stefan’s trap of massive iron needles set across the threshold]Diaval: Mistress.[Maleficent starts walking through the iron needles carefully, they all get through and Maleficent manages to knock out a guard in the process]Maleficent: Hmm.[back in Aurora’s room]Flittle: What are we going to do?Knotgrass: We can’t give up, can we? Come on, girls.Flittle: But we don’t even know where to start.Thistletwit: True love doesn’t just fall from trees, you know.

[outside Aurora’s room Maleficent wakes Phillip by dropping his body to the floor, the three fairies hear the noise and open the door]Prince Phillip: Pardon me. I’m embarrassed to say I don’t know where I am.Thistletwit: In King Stefan’s castle.[Phillip rises to his feet]Prince Phillip: This is where I’m meant to be. Odd that I can’t recall how I got here.Knotgrass: Why have you come?Prince Phillip: My father sent me to see the King.Knotgrass: Who is your father?Prince Phillip: King John of Ulstead.Knotgrass, Flittle, Thistletwit: A prince![the three fairies quickly drag him inside the room]

[the three fairies push Phillip to Aurora’s bedside]Prince Phillip: Aurora.Thistletwit: He knows her.Prince Phillip: Why is she sleeping?Knotgrass: She’s trapped in an enchantment.Flittle: Isn’t she beautiful?Prince Phillip: The most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.Thistletwit: Do you want to kiss her?Prince Phillip: Very much.Thistletwit: Go on, then.[at the same time Maleficent and Diaval enter the room, hide behind a screen to watch]Prince Phillip: I wouldn’t feel right about it. I barely know her, we’ve only met once.Knotgrass: Haven’t you ever heard of love at first sight? Kiss her! Go on.

[Phillip leans close to kiss Aurora but stops]Prince Phillip: An enchantment, you say?Knotgrass, Flittle, Thistletwit: Oh! Kiss her![Phillip leans in slowly and kisses her, Maleficent and the three fairies watch in anticipation for but the kiss isn’t enough to wake Aurora]Knotgrass: You didn’t do it properly!Flittle: It’s supposed to be true love’s kiss!Thistletwit: I was certain he was the one.[the three fairies start dragging Phillip away from Aurora’s bedside]Prince Phillip: What are you doing?Knotgrass: We have to keep looking![they throw Phillip out of the room, leave the room with him closing the door behind them]

[to Diaval, after the fairies leave Aurora’s room]Maleficent: I told you.[Maleficent and Diaval leave their hiding place and Maleficent walks over to Aurora’s bedside]Maleficent: I will not ask your forgiveness because what I have done to you is unforgivable. I was so lost in hatred and revenge. Sweet Aurora, you stole what was left of my heart. And now I have lost you forever.[tears start rolling down her face as begins to cry]Maleficent: I swear, no harm will come to you as long as I live. And not a day shall pass that I don’t miss your smile.[Maleficent kisses Aurora’s forehead and as she turns to leave Aurora’s eyes open]Aurora: Hello, Godmother.[Maleficent turns to face Aurora with tears in her eyes]Maleficent: Hello, beasty.[Aurora smiles and Maleficent holds her hand]Diaval: No truer love.

[as Stefan paces impatiently one of his captain approaches him]Captain: She’s here, sire.[we then see Maleficent and Aurora walking towards the hall when Maleficent stops]Aurora: Are we going back to the Moors now?Maleficent: If that is what you wish.[Aurora smiles and nods her head, Maleficent starts walking through the hall, as she turns to motion for Aurora to follow her suddenly a massive iron net is dropped on her and then guards run in to ambush her]Guard: We’ve got her![Aurora goes to help Maleficent one of the soldiers pushes her back]Aurora: Stop!Guard: Get back![the soldiers grab hold of Aurora to hold her back]Aurora: No![as the guards start attacking Maleficent she looks at Diaval, who’s flying around them]Maleficent: Into a dragon.[she uses her magic to transform Diaval into a large dragon and he breathes fire at the guards and pulls the iron net off of Maleficent]

[as Diaval is attacking the guards]Maleficent: Run, Aurora![Aurora runs up the stairs, enters the chamber where Maleficent’s wings are being kept and locks herself in, back in the hall the guards manage to restrain Diaval and start surrounding Maleficent with their shields]Guard #1: Get back! Hold it steady!Guard #2: Pull to the left! Pull! Guard #1: Hold the line! Look out. Hold your line.Guard #2: Close in. Bring it down![back in the chamber Aurora sees Maleficent’s wings locked in the cabinet and suddenly they start to flap, Aurora pushes the cabinet over and breaks it, setting the wings free; back in the hall, after Maleficent is completely surrounded Stefan, entirely dressed in his armor, steps into the circle and suddenly hits her with an iron chain, knocking her down]

[after hitting Maleficent with the iron chain, Stefan’s guards starts banging their shields on the ground]Stefan: Enough![he walks over to Maleficent who’s still kneeling on the ground]Stefan: How does it feel, hm? To be a fairy creature without wings in a world where you don’t belong?[Stefan throws the chains around Maleficent and tosses her aside, Stefan takes out his sword and as he walks towards Maleficent to strike a fatal blow, the wings reach Maleficent and reattach themselves to her back, she flapping her wings and floats up]Stefan: Kill her!Guard: Kill her![Maleficent starts to fly away]Guard: Shoot![Maleficent manages to free Diaval from his restraints then as she goes to fly out the window Stefan throws a chain at her leg and holds on]

Stefan: Shoot her!Guard: Take aim![as the guards are about to throw their spears at her Maleficent flies out the window, pulling Stefan with her until they reach a tower, Maleficent throws Stefan against the tower wall and grabs his throat]Maleficent: It’s over.[she lets him go and as she turns to fly off Stefan jumps onto her, throwing them both off the tower, Maleficent takes flight and drops Stefan in the process and he falls to his death]

[we see Aurora sat in the Moors watching Maleficent as she flies around using her magic to take down the wall of thorns]Narrator:[voice over] Maleficent brought down her wall of thorns and took off her crown. And she invited Aurora to see how the Moors had been once, long ago, when Maleficent was but a child and her heart was bright. For now, it was again. But that was not all.[after Maleficent restores the Moors to its former beauty, Aurora is brought before her and Diaval]Knotgrass: Oh, there she is. Hurry up. They’re waiting.Thistletwit: Wait for me![the three fairies fly in carrying a crown]Knotgrass: We present this crown to our little Aurora, for whom we have sacrificed the best years of our…[Maleficent looks at her giving her the evil eye]Knotgrass: Never mind.

[last lines; Maleficent places the crown on Aurora’s head]Maleficent: Our kingdoms have been unified.[Aurora faces the creatures of the Moors]Maleficent: You have your queen.[the creatures cheer]Narrator:[voice over] So you see, the story is not quite as you were told, and I should know, for I was the one they called Sleeping Beauty.[as the creatures bow to Aurora she turns to see Phillip has joined them, they smile at each other]Narrator:[voice over] In the end, my kingdom was united not by a hero or a villain, as legend had predicted, but by one who was both hero and villain. And her name was Maleficent.[we see Maleficent and Diaval, in his bird form, flying high over the Moors and through the clouds]